Xavier
How did my life turn out to be like this? I thought as I stared at the ceiling of our luxurious suite.
This swanky hotel is tucked in One57, one of the city's tallest and most talked about residences. Stellar service, pin-drop quiet rooms, a sumptuous spa and modern but feel-good interior spaces fashion this Hyatt flagship as one of New York's pacesetters among true luxury.
I can’t believe how my family acts as if we’re on a vacation. As if sealing a deal magically solves all of our problems. It feels like we’re selling our soul to a demon to live a good life only to be eaten out in the end.
Brad Powell offered partnership to my family but we refused it. And yet we reached out to Nikolai Alexeev, who was just the same as him. No wonder he’s pissed enough to drive us into a corner. Now, we’re left with no choice but to ally between one of those two.
Either way, we’ll be seen as one or the othe
XavierUgh, it feels like my head is going to break. I thought as I blinked my eyes open. All I can remember is that I dropped off Hope and something knocked me out on the head and I blacked out. I squinted my eyes until I realized I’m in some sort of abandoned warehouse. My hands were tied to a chair and I struggled against them but I only managed to scrape the skin on my wrists.“Hey, we’ve waited a while.” A guy says, coming closer to me, his face hovering in front of me. I have no idea who he is. “Hey, somebody tell boss our little guy is up.” He yells to his comrades behind him. There were at least six of them. At least, the ones I see.“What the fuck do you guys need?” I said.I grunted as he grabbed my head and forced my head to look up at him.“I don’t know about that.” He says. “Lift your head, I have to show you something.”I can’t hel
Xavier“So, did you find out anything?” I asked when I met up with Chris at the annex office of our hospital. It’s been twenty four hours and Hope hasn’t woken up yet. I would have been worried but her doctor, Mia Fernandez, assured me that it was her body’s typical response to trauma and stress. Nobody is allowed in her room except her brother, her doctor who double checks everything we give to her, and her guards.“We did dig deeper into Hope Alexeev.” Chris started. “We verified her documents and although they were as authentic as they can be. They were only created two years ago.”“And we also looked for the other girl who disappeared two years ago. We found her records and by keenly examining the fingerprints and comparing them with that of Hope Alexeev’s, they will have no way to deny that they were the same person.”“What happened to her exactly?&rdquo
Xavier“Jasmine?” I say, calling her by her rightful name. She was still staring at me in shock.Nikolai stood frozen beside me. It’s a face that wants to deny yet I don’t think he can lie to Jasmine about it anymore.“I suppose you no longer have the right to keep her here.” I say, now that the truth is out in the open.“Hope,” he says, looking at her with pleading eyes.He basically kidnapped her, fed her lies, made her stay with a make believe family, yet how can he look so miserable right at this moment?“She’s a girl, who has a family, who’s probably waiting for her to return.” I tell Nikolai. If he has any conscience at all, he will let Jasmine go.“You don’t know what you’re talking about!” Nikolai yells at me angrily. Yet he has the nerve to be the one who’s angry.“Do you think Jasmine’s going
Jasmine/HopeThe blood pounded in my ears. My heart thudded in my chest. My hands shook and my feet tingled. My vision disfigured, as if I was looking through a fish eye lens. Breathing was hard. I cried as my chest grew tight and bile rose in my throat."I can't...I can't breathe." I inhaled quickly, grabbing my chest while leaning against Nikolai."What's going on?" Nikolai asked as he watched me gasping like a fish out of water.I sucked in another breathe and another. How was it I was breathing but the air felt empty of oxygen? I had to sit. Too crowded. Too many people here taking my air. I needed space. Xavier was too close, he was leaning in, telling me something. I waved my hand at him uselessly attempting to shoo him away. I was light headed. Dizzy.“Everyone get away from her.” I heard Doctor Fernandez say as she came towards me. “And that includes you, Nikolai.”Nikolai backed away and so did
Jasmine/Hope“What the fuck happened to that?” Louis says, as he enters the room with some clothes in his hands.“What?” I ask, taking the clothes from him.“That.” He says pointing at my bandaged shoulder, careful not to touch it.“Ah, I got shot.” I told him, putting on his shirt, which was clearly oversized.“By what? A laser beam?” He smirks. Of course he won’t believe me even if I tell him the truth.“Go ask Xavier if you want.” I tell him. “On second thought, don’t do that. I just ran away from the hospital.”“I should tell him to lock you in the psych ward instead.” He says, sitting down on his bed. “Now that you mention Xavier, he was here a few days ago looking for you.”There’s no way Nikolai wouldn’t know Xavier has been snooping around. I wonder how he was able to patch th
Jasmine/Hope“James.” I said as I greeted my brother.“Jasmine, long time no see.” He says to me.“What are you doing here?” I asked him.“What do mean, I still live in Los Angeles you know.” He tells me. “I should be the one asking you that question?”I stared at him curiously, waiting for him to tell me more. I wonder what lies our father told him about me.“Dad says you went to Massachusetts to study.” He continued.Of course, Dad would come up with some sort of excuse once James started asking. Lying is as easy as breathing to him. I wonder why he said Massachusetts of all places. Maybe it was the first thing that came to mind or because it has the best public school system in the U.S. Or maybe because it was too far away from California. But funny how he’s not too far from the truth, seeing that I was living just on it’s neighb
Jasmine/Hope“Who is it?” Louis says, coming out of the kitchen and walking into the living room. I was just standing there, holding the door open.“Do I know you?” Louis asked when he saw Nikolai. “Do you know him?” He asked again, looking at me. He looks foolish looking back and forth between us holding a spatula in his hand.“Hope?” Nikolai says, looking at me expectantly. His eyes looks tired.“Hope?” Louis asked, sounding like a god damn parrot.“Yes, Louis. I know him. This is my brother, Nikolai.” I tell him. Thank goodness he didn’t see James earlier or I would have to make up a new story of having two brothers instead of one.“Well then, why don’t you let him in?” He says. “Come on in, man.” He says, inviting Nikolai into his house.I let out a sigh and moved from the doorway to let him in. I watched Nikol
Jasmine/Hope“Where do you want to go now?” Nikolai asked after spending a whole day at the hotel. He asked me earlier if there was anywhere I wanted to go while we were in the city but I preferred to stay indoors so he can get some rest. He’s done more than enough for me and there was no one else I would like to see. I do wonder how my mom was doing but I’m not ready to face her yet.“I’m sure you don’t want to go back to the hospital.” He continues. Well I never really liked hospitals but I guess he didn’t want to go back either because of Xavier. “We can go back to Clyde, Doctor Fernandez and our other doctors should be able to treat you there with our facilities.”Yeah, right. We do have a hospital there just like the VIP wing of Xavier’s family’s hospital where I stayed.I laughed at him. “Nikolai I’m not sick. I just had a hole in my shoulder.&rdq